Measuring client satisfaction with assertive community treatment

A mailed survey was used to measure satisfaction of seriously mentally ill clients with services provided by an assertive community treatment team.

A detailed 35-item questionnaire was mailed in 1995 to all 174 clients of the Brockville (Ontario) Psychiatric Hospital's assertive community rehabilitation program.

The rate of return was 51 percent. Compared with clients who did not return the survey, the respondent group had significantly fewer males and fewer clients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia; respondents had been associated with the program for less time. Factor analysis of the survey responses revealed three principal components accounting for 46 percent of the total variance in responses. The factors were interpersonal aspects of care, client involvement in treatment, and medication and treatment issues. Respondents were generally satisfied with service from the program, but they were dissatisfied with side effects of medication and the amount of medication they were taking.

A mailed survey appears to be an efficient and nonintrusive way to collect satisfaction data anonymously from persons with serious mental illness who are clients of an assertive community treatment team. The results highlight areas of need that the team can address.